Gabriel the Marine
Gabriel the Marine is a Rock band from Long Island, New York. Since their inception into the underground music scene in 2008, the band has released a self titled demo, the Your Friends and Loved Ones EP, and the Live from the Purevolume House live ep. Spin Magazine called them a blend of "Jimmy Eats World meets The Decemberists" in 2009, and purevolume.com called them "One of the best unsigned artists of 2009". From 2009-2011, the band has been writing and recording their debut album, which will be released in late 2011 or early 2012. Biography Origins In the summer of 2007, Michael Desmond and Dylan Ebrahimian began writing songs together while Dylan was in The Farewell Effect. At this time, The Farewell Effect was going through bassists. Tom Angenbroich (of Stereo Skyline), the bassist at the time, left the band to pursue promotion. With no bassist, in addition to Mark Herburger's short break from the band, Dylan Ebrahimian brought in Desmond to fill in on guitar. Jon Kurmanchik of Hope Drive played as a live bassist. The Farewell Effect played its last show at The Landmark Theatre on Main Street in Port Washington with Permanent Me, Big City Lights, Destiny or Design, Van Atta High (New Jersey) and The Rivalry. The Line-up inlcluded the absense of Mark Herburger on guitar, coupled with the addition of Michael Desmond in his place. Jon Kurmanchik played as live bassist, and they had a guest appearance from Mark Herburger on vocals and Tom Angenbroich on screams during the outro of their last song entitled "Disappear". Dylan and Desmond then decided that they should take the songs that they wrote and incorporate them into a band with members of The Farewell Effect and begin anew as a band with a new name after the lineup had gotten settled. The band soon transitioned into a project that Mike and Dylan had been working on for months at that point. The band spent weeks working on the lyrics and the concept behind Gabriel's story, and put up a song "The Invocation of Gabriel" on the myspace until they could release their true material. The band spent a few months writing and debuted their new material under the name "Gabriel the Marine" at Village Pub South in February. Self-Titled Demo In April of 2008, Gabriel the Marine entered the studio with Nick Zinnanti to record a five song EP. The EP was finished and released at shows. On May 17th, two new tracks entitled "Maybe, Baby" and "The Gold Coast" appeared on their page and were free for download. After the tracks were mastered, all four tracks entitled "Maybe Baby", "The Gold Coast", "Twilight in the Sun" and "Lovely Bones" were posted on Myspace. Before the EP was released, however, Craig and John left the band to pursue plans outside of serious music projects including plans to go away to college. Your Friends and Loved Ones, Live, & Untitled Full Length In early October, the band announced that Dominick D'Agostino (guitar) and Tommy Davis (drums) had filled the roles for Craig and John. With the new lineup, Gabriel the Marine wrote five songs. Gabriel the Marine recorded these songs with renowned producer/engineer Mike Watts at Vudu Studios. The EP was called "Your Friends and Loved Ones", due to the fact that the band has been heavily supported by their family and friends and could not pursue anything musically without their constant and unbridled support. The band has since stated that they are unhappy with the way these recordings came out. On April 18th, it was announced that Gabriel the Marine would play at the 2009 Bamboozle Festival on May 3rd. They played on the Aquarian/Break Stage at 11:00 AM. Spin Magazine called them "One of the 15 bands you Must Hear at the Bamboozle Fesitval". In late May of 2009, Robbie Hassett was asked to replace Mark Herburger on bass, after a unanimous decision was made by the band that a change needed to be made. The band shortly after embarked on a national U.S. tour with the electro/indie-tinged A Love Like Pi, and the pop rock bands Asteria and Theatre Breaks Loose. Following their summer tour, the band opened for The Dear Hunter and later The Sleeping in September. It was at this time that the band officially released the five-song "Your Friends and Loved Ones" EP. Soon after, Sons Modern Booking (which is headed by Justin Beck of Glassjaw and Neil Rubenstein of These Enzymes) picked up Gabriel to be part of their crew along with John Nolan (of Taking Back Sunday and Straylight Run), Destry (featuring Michelle Nolan from Straylight Run), Glassjaw, Nightmare of You, Sainthood Reps (featuring Derrick of Brand New), The Sleeping, Tidal Arms (featuring members of From Autumn to Ashes), and Harvard. In October, Gabriel played the CMJ Music Festival, and recorded their set. The Live at the Purevolume House EP was released online on December 17th, 2009 and can be streamed on purevolume.com. Later on, in December, the band opened for the Danish post rock/indie rock band Mew during a part of their North American tour. Following the show, rumors began circulating that the influential post hardcore band, Glassjaw (also from Long Island), would be playing at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey as a part of the Sons Modern Christmas Party. Gabriel opened the show along with Bad Rabbits, Robbers, and Sainthood Reps. A month later, the band embarked on an east coast tour with John Nolan (of Straylight Run and Taking Back Sunday fame) and Ocean is Theory. Soon after, bassist Robbie Hassett was kicked out of the band. The band spent the rest of the winter months writing and demoing out new song ideas, playing occasional one-off shows, and looking for a new bassist. Tommy's brother Steve shortly filled the position before the band began playing with Jesse Lyons in April. It was around this time that the band also signed with Strong Management, a firm that handles artists such as Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying. In May 2010 the band played at the Bamboozle Festival at the Meadowlands in New Jersey with headliners Paramore, Weezer, MGMT, and Drake. In June 2010, the acclaimed alternative rock band Taking Back Sunday announced that Gabriel would be one of the openers (the others being Person L and Rufio) for their headlining tour. Gabriel the Marine opened the show for them on June 27th in Chicago, Illinois at the Metro. Shortly after this, one of their songs was featured on "Kourtney and Kim Take New York", a reality tv show. In January 2011, the band headed to Closerlook Studios in Cleveland, Ohio to begin recording their debut album with producer Jim Wirt. In June, they toured with NGHBRS before returning in July 2011 to finish the album. Members *Michael Desmond (Guitar, Vocals) *Dylan Ebrahimian (Piano, Violin, Vocals) *Tom Costa (Bass, Vocals) *Dominick D'Agostino (Guitar, Vocals) *Tommy Davis (Drums, Vocals) Former Members *Craig Kleila (Guitar) *John Leibold (Drums) *Mark Herburger (Bass) *Robbie Hassett(Bass) *Jesse Lyons (Bass, Vocals) Discography *S/T Demo (Self-Released, 2008) *Your Friends and Loved Ones (EP, 2009) *Live from the Purevolume House (Live EP, 2009) *Untitled Full Length (Winter, 2011/2012) External Links *Gabriel the Marine Official Myspace *Gabriel the Marine on Purevolume *Gabriel the Marine's blog *Gabriel the Marine on Youtube Category: Indie Rock Bands